A Short History Of Spira
by Kali Ravel
Summary: The title is a bit of a misnomer, as it's actually about the future of Spira.  Set seven years after Vegnagun.  Complete.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy or anything like that. This disclaimer counts across the whole of the stroy, because I'm not writing it out again.

Again, I apologise for characters acting out of character. And for the short chapter lengths. On the other hand, I do tend to upload eleven chapters in one go, so...

REVIEWS ROCK! (Oh, and please tell me when I spelt 'Calm' as 'Clam' - my stupid spell checker doesn't pick up on it).

Dedicated to Auron's fan for helping me come up with the names, Ariescelestial for being so nice, SummonerShion3and Shadrayfor loving this story and Tidus04 because i like him just the way he is. Don't ever change you guys (though if you want to, i completely support your desicion in every way).

Also, ironically dedicated to Ryancola, without whose constant arguing against the basic idea this story would never have been written. Heheh.Thanks.

**Chapter 1**

It was sunny in Besaid, as it always was. Rikku grinned up at the sky as she stepped off the SS. Winno. She was twenty-four now, and a lot had happened in those seven years since she, Yuna and Paine had defeated Vegnagun. She herself had started working at the dig site in the Bikanel desert. She'd been there since she'd turned twenty, when Brother had unceremoniously kicked her off the airship. No, that wasn't true. When Brother had gotten married he had simply lost interest in trailing the sky, especially with a child on the way. Buddy had also lost interest, finding it much more preferable to work as a diplomat. His time spent bargaining with people during that time they were the 'friendly neighbourhood Gullwings' had been so much fun that he now did that for a living, arguing with people to get the deal he wanted.

The airship herself had been worn out anyway. Though Rikku had wanted it, even she had agreed to leave it to Shinra, so he could work out how it was put together. And, of course, how to improve it. Shinra was a young man of nineteen now. He was based in the Mi'ihen highroad, tinkering with Machina all day long. Rin sponsored him, so he'd never had to earn money in any other way. It was probably Rin who got the best of the deal. Shinra's Comm Spheres were now a worldwide means of communication, and the garment grid was in daily use.

Paine now lived in Luca. She'd bought that Café in the square, where Tidus had run into Auron again. Rikku had been there on a number of occasions. In fact, she ate there at least once a month. Travel was a little harder now, without the Celsius, but the Machine Faction had the best transport in Spira.

Yuna and Tidus had gotten married, very shortly after Vegnagun. It was right here, on Besaid beach in fact, that they had tied the knot. Looking at the white sands, Rikku couldn't help thinking back to that day. She'd been a bridesmaid, along with Paine, who, when it came right down to it, didn't hate it that much. She'd flatly refused to wear pink though. Yuna had looked so happy and beautiful. Tidus too. Well, handsome rather than beautiful. Happy though. Shortly after that, their daughter, Lenne, had been born. In the five years since, she had grown into a cute little girl, with her mother's features and hair colour, but, her father maintained, her grandfathers nose. And of course her dad's blitzballing skills. Tidus and Yuna's other daughter, Aura, was born two years after Lenne, and so was three years old now. She was shyer than Lenne, and preferred her mother's calm and comforting nature to her father's playfulness. Aura had Jecht's dark hair, but Yuna's bi-coloured eyes. Rikku remembered Shinra being a little surprised at this. He had been studying genetics at the time, and he'd claimed it wasn't possible. Then Tidus pointed out that he, Tidus, was dream of the fayth, and Shinra went away to look at astrological charts instead.

Looking over the sands, Rikku saw Lenne running towards her, holding on to Tidus's hand, little Vidina running after them. Tidus, when it came right down to it, had been a good father. Better than her own, at least. Tidus absolutely doted on Lenne, and couldn't deny her anything. And she in turn, adored him. She was a real daddy's girl.

"Aunty!" She called as she ran. "Aunty Kiku!" Rikku couldn't help but smile at that. When Lenne had first learned to talk she couldn't pronounce the 'R' in Rikku, and as she'd got older she hadn't even tried. Tidus released Lenne's hand, and the small girl threw herself at Rikku, hugging her, and almost knocking her over.

"Hi Lenne!" Said Rikku to the small girl wrapped around her waist.

"Hi Rikku," said Tidus as he got closer. Lenne released Rikku's waist and instead grabbed her hand.

"Hey Tidus. How's Yuna? And Aura? Hello Vidina!"

"Hello,"

Vidina was a little shy. He had Wakka's hair and mouth, but as he grew older his eyes had darkened until they matched Lulu's. He was a serious boy, quiet and calm.

"They're fine," said Tidus, smiling. Lenne, Rikku, Vidina and Tidus began walking up towards Besaid village.

In Besaid, Yuna, Aura, Wakka and Lulu were waiting for her. The whole afternoon was spent in playing with the kids, eating, and generally having a good time. It wasn't until that evening that Rikku and Yuna managed some quiet time to themselves. They decided to go for a walk along the waterfall way. As Yuna tried to leave, Aura grabbed onto her skirt and wouldn't let go, but Lenne eventually managed to distract her.

Finally the cousins managed to leave. They chatted as they walked away from the village, Yuna talking about Aura and Lenne, and Rikku listening. She loved Yuna's children, really she did, but she still didn't quite understand how mothers could find every single little thing their offspring did fascinating. Lulu had been the same.

Then they talked about their time together as Gullwings. Yuna asked after Brother and his wife. It had surprised everyone when Brother got together with Calli, the girl who loved Chocobos, but they did work well together. Their daughter, Muja, was four years old now, and could already ride a chocobo as well as any adult.

They had just reached the beach and were discussing Gippal - Rikku maintained she didn't like him, and Yuna thought she did – when it happened.

There was a noise that started softly and got louder. Yuna and Rikku looked up, puzzled. There was something…falling? Something metallic, rolling over and over as it came down towards them. Yuna and Rikku both dived out of the way as it hit.

Eventually, Rikku looked up. The metal thing was around seven foot square, and it had a door in the side of it. The door was open and a woman was lying halfway through it. Both Yuna and Rikku stood up to help her.

The woman looked to be around thirty, and was dressed simply in dark colours. Her eyes were closed.

"Hello? Can you hear me?" asked Yuna.

The woman's eyes opened a little, and she nodded.

"We'll get you out of there," said Rikku.

"My…my son…." Gasped the older woman.

"Your son?" Asked Rikku. She looked into the metal room. Inside she saw a baby, strapped into a special seat. While Yuna gently pulled the woman out of the metal thing, Rikku stepped inside and unstrapped the baby. He had dark hair, and enormous dark eyes. He chuckled happily as she picked him up, and grabbed for a fistful of her hair. Rikku disentangled his hand, and carried him out, onto the beach. She laid him down next to his mother. Yuna, facing her across the woman's body gasped at something behind her. Turning Rikku saw the metal thing crumble to dust, dust that was soon scattered by the wind.

Both Rikku and Yuna turned to ask the woman a question, but she had slipped into unconsciousness. Instead, they carried her and the baby between them, all the back to Besaid village. They installed her in Yuna's spare room, and then filled in Tidus, Lulu and Wakka. They agreed to wait until morning.

That night, tossing and turning on a hastily made up sofa bed, Rikku had to wonder. What was happening to Spira now?


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

When Rikku awoke the next day, her first thoughts were of the mysterious woman. It seemed she was not alone in this, as when she went into the other room, she found Yuna vigilant by the woman's bedside.

"Has she woken up yet?" Rikku asked. Yuna shook her head. She was holding the woman's son in the crook of her arm, and feeding him out of one of Aura's old bottles.

"No…But I'm pretty sure she's only sleeping, not unconscious. There're no major injuries,"

"How's the baby?"

Yuna smiled. "Adorable. And perfectly healthy. Do you want to hold him?"

"Yep yep!"

Yuna handed the baby to Rikku, long with the half empty bottle. The baby mewled like a kitten, and opened his dark eyes, focusing them on Rikku's face. His eyes were black, speckled with flecks of a lighter colour, like looking into the universe. Rikku looked down at him, entranced. They were the…the _deepest_ eyes she'd ever seen. The baby, wanting the rest of the bottle squawked a little, and the woman opened her eyes.

"Llaman?" She asked, trying to sit up. Knowing how fretful Yuna could be over her daughters, Rikku handed the woman her baby.

"Is that his name?" Asked Yuna. The woman was looking down at her son, checking him over.

"Yes," she said, looking up and smiling. "Thank you for looking after us,"

"Don't worry," said Yuna.

"What happened?" Asked Rikku excitedly. "What was that metal thing? How come you fell out of the sky? What's your name?"

Yuna and the woman laughed. "Don't mind her," said Yuna. "She's always like that,"

"No, no, she has a right to be curious," said the woman. "My name is Ifalna. It is a fairley common name among my people,"

"Who are your people?"

"Who are you?" Asked Ifalna.

"Oh! I'm sorry. I'm Yuna and this is my cousin Rikku,"

"High Summoner Yuna?"

"I am,"

"Oh, this fortuitous indeed! It is you I have come to see!"

"Oh?" Said Yuna, looking a little surprised.

"Where did you come from?" Asked Rikku, not letting go of what she felt to be the most important point. "You fell out of the sky!"

Ifalna laughed. "Yes. My people…we are travellers. We roam the galaxy, helping out planets that are in trouble," the woman pulled the blanket from her legs, and swung them onto the floor, so she was sitting rather than lying. In her arms Llaman giggled and played with the necklace she wore.

"You see," she continued, "My people have certain abilities. We…sometimes we see the future. We see what is to happen – wars, natural disasters, plagues - and sometimes we try and prevent it. That is why I'm here,"

Yuna and Rikku exchanged a glance. Watching them, Ifalna smiled. "You wonder why we did not come before? We do not interfere with the natural course of things. If you make war among yourselves, that is your own problem. We do not interfere. Besides, before you could deal with it yourselves,"

"So…" said Yuna. "What's different about this time? What's going to happen now?"

"This time, it is not you…it is not people. Normally, we would not interfere even for that reason, but…"

"But what?" Asked Rikku.

"There is a chance that all life on this planet will be destroyed,"

Yuna and Rikku stared at each other, dumbfounded.

Yuna looked away, through the window. Following her gaze, Rikku could see Lenne, Aura and Vidina playing a game with Tidus. They sat in silence for a while, watching the group.

Yuna looked back at Ifalna. "Go on. What's going to happen?"

"I know this is difficult," Ifalna said.

"Don't worry about it," said Yuna. "Just tell us what's going to happen,"

"A meteor is coming to this planet,"

"Meteor?"

"An enormous lump of rock, flying through space. It will crash into this planet," Ifalna looked down at her hands. "If you don't do something, every single person on this planet will die,"

"What can we do? Destroy it?"

"No…it's too big…it's about half the size of this planet,"

"Woah," said Rikku.

"So what can we do?"

"All you can do is protect yourselves. I came to you, Yuna, because you are the most respected person in Spira. People will listen when you talk to them. You need to warn them. Build shelters, anything, to keep people safe,"

"Don't you know how we can save people?"

"No…all I saw was the meteor hit, and I knew that no one survived. We can't control our visions my people…they just happen,"

Yuna and Rikku sat in silence for a while, as did Ifalna. The only sound in the room was Llaman's happy gurgles.

After a time, Yuna said, "Well, the first thing to do is tell Tidus, Lulu and Wakka. They can help,"

"Yeah. And then we can call Paine on the Comm Spheres. Shinra might be able to help, and the Machine faction could build shelters or something. The Youth League and New Yevon can help organise people,"

"Wait…Ifalna, how long do we have?"

"I think…a few months maybe,"

"Shinra's been watching the stars I think. He might be able to work out when it'll hit. Maybe,"

"Okay," Yuna sighed, and looked down at her hands. "You wouldn't have warned us if we didn't have a chance, would you?" She asked Ifalna.

"No," the woman replied. But Rikku could see that no one in the room believed her.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

"Ifalna, you are charged by the court of the Cetra - "

Ifalna looked around. Where was she? What was happening?

She saw that she was in a courtroom. She saw her family and friends placed as the jury. The judge was her husband. Her ever-loving husband. What was he saying now?

"You ran away. You acted on your own impulse and you interfered. You - "

"They would all have died!" Ifalna cried, realising what he meant. She had warned the Spirans. She had tried to save a race. That was her crime.

The Cetra, as a race were the caretakers of the universe. They could see the future, and very few of them could move in time. Once, long ago, a leader of their race had decided that these abilities gave the duty of ensuring the safety of the universe. But, he said, they were not to interfere. If they interfered, that could lead to a race of tyrannical Cetra, whose only aim was to recreate the universe in their own image. They would become a police race, making sure things happened they way they wanted. The leader, whose name has been lost to history, had not wanted that to happen. He only wanted to make sure that none were killed by any fault not their own. If a natural disaster wiped out all but one small child, the Cetra would seek to protect that child. If a species killed their enemies and themselves off in great wars, then that was their own problem.

The judge was speaking again. "Ifalna, you interfered!"

"I had to save them!"

"They could survive this!"

"No, they - "

Ifalna stopped as the memories washed over her. That vision. A race wondering what the thing in the sky was, moving ever closer. Then suddenly it would hit. She saw the mass of bodies, roasted by the terrible heat, and then frozen by the cold that followed. She saw adult bodies wrapped around children holding them tight. She saw the few who survived wandering aimlessly over the corpses of their families and friends until they lay down and died too. She saw a child clasped in its mother's dead arms, screaming, crying, "why won't you wake up mommy?"

And then hundreds of years of rotting, stinking corpses, whittling down to skeletons. Bones on every surface of the world. Then the dead, wandering moaning, their ghost bodies mutilated by their ghastly fate. Wandering forever, wailing for their lost lives.

But he would not understand that. Her husband, the latest leader of the Cetra. She didn't understand now what she had ever seen in him. He was handsome, yes, with kind eyes that hid a wicked soul. She had loved him, she thought, though she had not known what love was. On their wedding night, she had regretted everything, seeing for the first time her husband's cruelty, but it was to late. She was bound to him now, trapped forever with her son, Llaman. Her son. Not his.

He was not interested in helping other races. He didn't want to do anything except be worshipped. She had seen his face at his father's funeral, greedy, not grieving.

He was talking still, screaming at her for taking his son away. She looked up at him. His son? Never. She knew this was a dream. He still scared her even here, but she need not be afraid. He was only a phantom, a figment of her imagination. Here, she could give him his true name.

"Monster," she said softly.

"What!"

"Monster." She said again. And again. "Monster." Screaming now, "Monster. Monster. Monster. Monster. Monster. Monster. Monster…"

Then she awoke and wept into her pillow. What fate awaited her innocent child with a father like that?


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

And so things happened. First of all, Yuna and Rikku told Tidus, Wakka and Lulu. Then they called Shinra on the Comm Sphere. He used the remodelled Celsius to gather Ifalna, Yuna, Rikku, Tidus, Paine, Nooj, Baralai, and Gippal together.

Yuna recapped the situation for all their benefit, and Ifalna answered all the questions they had. There weren't many. Most of the questions were from Shinra, scientific questions about the meteor.

Eventually, they began discussing what to do.

"We need some way to protect people," said Baralai.

"Are you sure there's no way to destroy it before it hits?" Nooj asked Ifalna.

"Yes," she replied. "Even if you were able to smash it, the pieces would still hit, and possibly cause more damage. You need some sort of shelter to protect people while it hits, and afterwards as well,"

"Why?" Asked Rikku. "What's likely to happen afterwards?"

"The meteor will throw up huge clouds of dust, obscuring the sun. You'll need some way to keep warm, some sort of light source, food, things like that,"

"So," said Gippal, who had been sketching on a piece of paper while the others talked. "What about this?"

He showed them his drawing. Shinra and Ifalna examined it critically. It was a sketched out idea of a shelter. There was a list of possible materials and alternatives if the materials weren't available, as well as a basic design, and even an estimate of how long it would take to build, among other things. Eventually, Ifalna said "Yes, that will work,"

"You just designed this?" asked Shinra.

"Well, I am head of the Machine Faction," replied Gippal.

"Huh,"

"So how are we going to do this?" Asked Nooj, rescuing Shinra from Gippal's 'if only looks could kill' glare.

"What about one large shelter for each village, and one or two others scattered around?" Suggested Baralai. "If we make a list of everyone in Spira and work out how much space we'd need…"

"Yes," said Nooj. "Good idea, Baralai. Gippal, when could the Machine Faction start building those things?"

"Immediately. We haven't got all the materials right now, but if we have some people search for them while everyone else builds, we should be able to do it. What timescale are we working with?"

"We don't know exactly," said Tidus.

"You have at least three months," added Ifalna.

"We can do it in that time," said Gippal confidently.

"Where should we build them?" Said Baralai. "Shinra, do you have a map?"

"Yeah," said Shinra. He pulled out a map from one of the cupboards around the room and spread it across the table. Baralai leaned over it immediately, sketching in likely locations with a pencil.

"What are we going to tell people?" Said Paine. "You said there was a chance that we could all die. Some people, if they find that out - "

"You've got a point," said Nooj. "Some people would do whatever they wanted. There'd be murders, rapes…"

"Well, can't we just say that it's going to be bad, a few people might die, but it's not going to be that bad, and we'll get through it?" Suggested Tidus.

"If people hear Yuna say that, it'll be alright," said Shinra. Yuna nodded.

"Okay," she said.

"Is there anyway we could protect people from the full force of the blast?" Asked Rikku. "Like that spell you used to use, Yunie?"

"Which one?"

"Um…protect, I think you called it,"

Ifalna looked puzzled. "What is that?" She asked.

Yuna showed her, casting the spell and getting Rikku to throw things at it. Ifalna examined the shivering sphere that surrounded Yuna. She tried pushing her hand through it, and then smiled when she found how much effort it took her.

"Can many people cast this spell?" Asked Ifalna.

"Most white mages, I should think," said Yuna.

"Most of the Youth League can,"

"And new Yevon,"

"We could get all the mages to cast it at once," said Nooj.

"Yes!" Said Baralai. "That should shield us a little,"

"It wouldn't stop it," said Ifalna. "But it might stop it from killing everyone. To be perfectly honest, I don't know if the shelters alone will stand up to the force of the blow,"

From then on, the discussion became more and more confusing, but eventually, the decision was made. Yuna would tell people about the meteor, while the Machine faction began work on the shelters.

The shelters would be large enough to hold all the people of the village, and be stocked with enough dried food to last for several years. The Youth League and new Yevon were in charge of food and other supplies, as well as being general helpers to the Machine Faction. The Bevelle Shelter would be built in the Calm Lands, and be open to any who wished to stay there. There would also be a shelter built on an island to the east of there, for anyone who could not be found room for elsewhere.

Shinra was to set up a database, so they could keep a list of things; who was going where, how much supplies they'd need, who'd be casting protect…things like that.

When Meteor hit, every mage they could get hold of was to cast protect, to try to slow it down a little, to try and stop some of the damage. Then, at the last moment, they were to dive into the nearest shelter.

No one in the room expected the mages to survive. They hoped they would, of course. They did all they could to make sure they would. But everyone knew that if anyone were to die, it would be the mages. However, without that line of defence, they knew that only a handful of people would live, if any.

For all of these reasons, and a few more, Yuna kept it a secret when she put her own name down as one of the mages who would be casting the spell.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Rikku was both surprised and pleased to see that the people of Spira greeted this disaster with good humour. Everyone volunteered to help with building the shelters; everyone was hopeful that they would survive. But of course, only a handful of people knew how bad it would truly be.

As one of the few people who knew what was going on, and, of course, as one of the people who defeated both Sin and Vegnagun, Rikku was in on all the plans. She helped with everything, same as Yuna, one day working with the Machine Faction, the next with the Youth League. She kept herself busy. She saw the others doing the same, keeping their own spirits up as she was. She knew they were faking, just like she was.

Within a month, Shinra had managed to work out the exact date that the meteor was to hit. They had slightly more time than they thought, though not much longer. Rikku tried not to think about it.

One thing that saddened her was how long the list of white mages had grown. All of the mages were told that they would probably not survive, but that didn't seem to be putting people off.

So she tried not to think about that either. Rikku did not put her own name down as a white mage. Though she could have, she'd hardly used the white mage dress sphere when she was a Gullwing. And since then, she hadn't used dress spheres at all. Besides, she'd always found healing a little slow and boring. Though she knew the spell, she'd barely used it. Besides, she'd never been good at magic.

Are those too many excuses? Or not enough? Rikku wasn't sure.

Over those months, when she wasn't working, she spent a lot of time with Llaman and Ifalna. The older woman taught her a lot of things about her people. She told her of different worlds, of her people's efforts to protect them, of their failures and successes.

Ifalna also told Rikku of the worlds that had destroyed themselves. Of worlds that had arrogantly used up all their natural resources and left their world a barren shell. Worlds that had built weapons to use in wars, much like the one between Zanarkand and Bevelle, and had destroyed themselves.

Hearing all of this gave Rikku a sense of how huge the universe was, and so she was forced to ask, "how do you get there in time?"

Ifalna thought a little before answering.

"We…my people, we know a little time magic,"

"What do you mean? Can you travel in time?"

"If we really need to, we can. It takes a great effort though. Many who attempt it die. Our scholars say that perhaps our being able to travel in time is perhaps connected to our ability to see the future,"

Rikku thought about this for a long time. She wasn't sure she understood, at least not in a way that could be put into words, but she knew there was something there to think about.

On another occasion, Ifalna taught her to feel the soul of a world. They lay outside in the soft grasses near waterfall way in Besaid, Llaman gurgling happily next to them.

"Close your eyes," Ifalna told her. "Listen to the sounds around you. The waterfall, the rustle of the grass, the soft breathy sound of the wind. Feel the sunlight warming your skin. The breeze caressing you. Listen to Llaman laughing, the soft susurrus of people enjoying themselves on the beach. Feel yourself as part of the world. These are the sounds of the world, these are the things that make up life,"

And so they had lain there for a time, until Rikku became unaware of time. Floating in the stillness, listening to Llaman, she began to hear another sound, echoing through his voice. A purring, like that of a cat only much nicer, entwined with every sound she could hear. The sound rose and fell like the tide.

Afterwards, she asked Ifalna about it. Ifalna told her she hadn't heard anything, but she didn't doubt that Rikku had. Ifalna told her then something that she had often thought.

"There are a lot of things we don't know,"

And so, slowly and quickly, quickly and slowly, the time passed. And meteor crept ever closer.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

A few weeks before meteor was due, Rikku headed to the information centre, in the inner sanctum of Djose Temple. It was here that all the machina was kept that detailed all their plans. She was here to make sure that everything was cross-referenced appropriately, that no one was left out, that everyone was provided for.

It was quite routine work. Anyone could have done it, although only a few had access to the systems. Shinra and Gippal had built the things, Rikku helping occasionally, and sometimes suppressing a smirk as the two duked it out for the unofficial title of machina master. Though serious about their work, the two always found time to smile a trait that Rikku found curiously endearing. She had caught herself watching Gippal more than once, remembering how much fun they had had when they were young. He, Buddy and Brother had always gone around together, her trailing after them, begging to join in. He had been nice to her then, being closer to her age than Brother or Buddy. It was him who had fished her out of the water after Brother had hit her with that lightening spell. As they grew older, Buddy and Brother had started teasing him about her being his girlfriend. To prove them wrong he started ignoring her. They had begun to grow closer again as they had matured, but then he had left to join the crimson squad and she had gone to help Yuna. And since then they had both been so busy with their own lives they simply hadn't found time for each other anymore. As the leader of the machine faction he was always roaming around Spira, while she spent some much time visiting her friends and relations around the world…their paths must have crossed hundreds of times, but they never seemed to be in the same place at the same instance. And time had gone by.

Rikku logged onto the computer, and began the dull task of double-checking everyone else's work. She had nearly finished when she saw a name on the mage list. A name that must have slipped her notice before now. The name of her cousin, whose life she had managed to save before now, but whom she might not be able to protect again. Yuna.

Angrily, she used the Comm sphere to contact Besaid. She asked Yuna why. Why was she doing this when everyone had risked so much for her before now?

And Yuna replied that she could not live with herself if she didn't. She was one of the strongest mages in Spira. How could she ask others to do what she would not do herself?

Unable to find an answer, Rikku went back to the computer. Hands shaking, she entered her own name. It felt like signing her own death warrant.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

Rikku's thoughts were running like this.

72 hours. 71 hours, 59 minutes and 50 seconds. 71 hours, 59 minutes and 40 seconds. 71 hours, 59 minutes, and 30 seconds. 71 hours, 59 minutes and 20 seconds. 71 hours…

Enough!

Rikku shook her head to try and stop her thoughts as she marched into the inner sanctum of Djose temple. There was no one else here. With so little time left (71 hours, 58 minutes and 10 seconds) everyone had been told to go home and spent time with their families.

Rikku had come here instead of visiting her friends and relatives. Once again, she was here to check on a few things.

Once more, she did all the basic checks first. She'd placed herself in the Besaid shelter, along with Ifalna, Llaman, Wakka, Vidina, Yuna, Tidus, Lenne and Aura. Nooj, Leblanc, Dona and Barthello were all in the eastern shelter. Shinra, Rin and Paine were in Luca, while Lulu, Gippal, Baralai, Cid, Brother, Calli, Muja, Kimahri, the rest of the Ronso, and many others were in the Calm lands. The Calm lands shelter was the Machine faction's special project, and was said to be the strongest and safest, though of course nothing had been mentioned officially. It was enormous, capable of housing thousands of people. Lulu, however, had chosen it because it was far away from her husband and son. After that argument with Yuna, Rikku had seen Lulu's name on the mage list, along with many other of her friends. She hadn't attempted to argue with any of them.

Basic checks completed (70 hours, 27 minutes, 32 seconds), she moved onto the job she had been dreading most. Double-checking the mage list. It was in alphabetical order, so she started at the bottom. She passed Yuna's name, as she had known she would, though the emotions she felt were no less strong for expecting it. Then she looked for her own.

It wasn't there.

She checked again, going through each name. She performed a search thorough the whole list. She wasn't there. Annoyed - this was upsetting as it without some stupid computer messing up – she tried entering her name as a new entry. A message came up.

The operation you have chosen cannot be performed. This name has been blocked by the system administrator.

System administrator?

Her mercurial emotions turned to pure anger. After closing down the system she marched down to Gippal's office in the monks quarters where he sometimes slept. She was in luck, or perhaps he was simply unlucky. He was there, looking at a picture of something when she burst in screaming like a banshee.

"Gippal, fryd dra vilg yna oui b'myoehk yd?" (Gippal, what the fuck are you playing at?)

"Rikku, E – fryd tu oui sayh?" (Rikku, I - what do you mean?)

"Tuh'd b'myo tisp, Gippal. Oui duug so hysa uvv dra syka! Yht oui p'mulgat ed cu E lyh'd lryhka ed pylg!" (Don't play dumb with me, Gippal. You took my name off the mage list! And you blocked it so I can't change it back!)

"That's what this about, Cid's girl?" Asked Gippal, switching back to English. "Me taking your name off the damn suicide list?" He began to get angry too. "Rikku, what the hell was your name doing on there in the first place? You're not a mage!"

"It was my decision Gippal! You had no right!" Annoyed, she threw a fire spell at him. "Not a mage, huh?" She asked.

Patting out the flames on his arm, Gippal said, "Rikku, your dad ordered me to take your name off!"

"You listened to my dad!" She asked, dowsing him with a water spell.

"I - "

"And why me? Yuna's on that list too!"

"Yuna…she…"

"She's got two daughters Gippal! Two little girls who'll be left all alone!" She hit him with a lightening spell.

"Rikku, quit throwing magic at me!"

She prepared a blizzard. Gippal darted forward and grabbed her arms.

"Rikku, I don't want you to die!"

She stared up at him, burning with anger and adrenaline. They froze like that, each one frustrated and angry with the other. Then, out of that heady mix of fear, adrenaline, relief, panic, hate, lust and perhaps love, Gippal leaned forward and kissed her, crushing his lips down on hers.

Rikku kissed him back.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

Gippal woke up first the next day, his arms wrapped around Rikku. He watched her sleep for a while. He wished, now, that he'd spent more time with her. Since Vegnagun, he'd barely seen her, both of them so wrapped up in their own lives. He noticed that she had a frown line forming on her forehead, and it saddened him that the sweet bubbly girl he remembered had frowned so much in her few years. He kissed her forehead and she smiled, the frown line disappearing and being replaced by laughter lines around her eyes.

However, when she opened those swirling green eyes a few seconds later her first sentence was "What time is it?"

He glanced up at the clock on the wall. "Just gone noon" he replied, surprised to see how long they'd slept.

"69 hours, 45 minutes," she muttered. He didn't ask her to explain. She got up and began dressing and gathering her things together.

"Which shelter are you in?" He asked her.

"Besaid,"

"Besaid! Rikku…can't you switch to the Calm lands?"

She looked over at him. "No I can't, Gippal. I'm sorry," she smiled at him. "Why don't you switch to Besaid?"

"I can't Rikku. The Calm Lands Shelter is the strongest in Spira! As the leader of the Machine Faction I have to be there,"

She smiled again, a gentle smile completely different from her normal happy look. It was a resigned smile. Gippal hated it. He never wanted to see that expression on her face.

"I'll see you on the other side," she said. Then she left, silently.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

There was only an hour left to go until meteor hit. Everyone had been in the shelters for over twelve hours now.

Tidus was sitting a corner muttering quietly to himself. Aura sat next to him, holding his hand. She was making herself s small and unobtrusive as possible, though this was nothing new. Wakka was playing a game with Lenne and Vidina. Rikku sat by the Comm sphere, while Ifalna sat next to her gently rocking Llaman.

In the outer area of the shelter, Yuna was waiting with the other mages.

All of the shelters were built in the same way, with an inner and outer area. The inner area was completely protected, while the outer area had a door, which opened onto the world. The mages were to head back to the outer section if they survived. Twelve hours after meteor hit, the doors to the inner sanctum would unlock.

The door separating the inner sanctum was locked at present and would only open for someone whose name was on the mage list. Or, as Gippal had so accurately named it, the suicide list.

Rikku sat quietly, locked in her own shell of cowardice. She was ashamed that she had not argued more with Gippal, though she had to admit she was quite grateful to him and her father. However, she had not forgotten that it was she who had suggested it.

Each of them sat silently locked in their own thoughts, waiting for the end.

Suddenly a loud groaning noise began. It got louder and louder. Rikku heard the mages begin chanting, and she thought she could detect Yuna's voice, though of course that was impossible in all the confusion. Tidus switched the sphere screen so it showed the view from the Comm sphere placed on the outside of the shelter and they could suddenly see Yuna outside, chanting with the rest of them. Tidus's already drawn face grew paler as he watched. Nobody spoke.

Suddenly they saw a new figure on the sphere screen. Lenne. Rikku gasped and looked round. The door was open. One of the mages must not have closed it properly, and Lenne had slipped out…Wakka grabbed Tidus as he made to follow his daughter.

"Don't do something crazy," said Wakka.

"Let go of me, Wakka!" Yelled Tidus. "I gotta save Yuna and Lenne!"

Rikku turned to Ifalna. "Ifalna, can't you do something!"

"I – I…" Ifalna began. The she nodded, and closed her eyes, begin to mutter something. Rikku kept her eyes on the sphere screen. Yuna had noticed Lenne behind her. Nobody had shut the door to the shelter yet. The silence was broken now and everybody began screaming as the noise grew louder and louder. Rikku pulled Aura and Vidina to her and crouched down, protecting them with her own body. The only sound to be heard now was the groaning of the meteor. Her ears aching, Rikku saw Tidus break away from Wakka and run outside. On the sphere screen she saw Yuna notice Lenne and run towards her, telling her to go back. Though Rikku could not hear, she could read Yuna's lips. Before Yuna reached Lenne however, she disappeared in a flash of light and beside Rikku Ifalna fell to the ground, helping Rikku to protectAura and Vidina, still clutching Llaman close to her. On the sphere screen Rikku saw Tidus reach Yuna and pull her back towards the shelter. She felt blood trickle from her ears as she quickly reached up and hit the buttons that would switch the view to the calms lands shelter.

The sphere screen changed, and now she could see Brother and Calli huddled together protecting Muja. Her father was near them, his hands wrapped over his own ears. Gippal was shouting, trying to be heard, but he had no chance of standing up to the unbelievable volume of the meteor. She could read his lips however. She watched, then gasped silently as she realised what he was saying.

The meteor was going to hit the Calm Lands directly. Everything they were getting here was only the dregs of the disaster. Everyone in the Calms Lands was going to die.

Gippal was not saying those exact words, but she could read his meaning in his every gesture. Gippal gave up on speaking, and glanced over at the Comm sphere. As Tidus pushed Yuna into the shelter, Gippal looked straight into Rikku's eyes. Tidus's last act before meteor hit was to push the door closed to protect those inside. As Yuna realised this and turned to hammer on the door between her and her husband, Gippal made his move.

Gippal's last act was to smash the Comm sphere.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

Everyone had to stay in the Shelters for quite while after Meteor had hit. They were long, sad days. Aura cried for her father and sister while Yuna stared at the wall. When the door to the outer area had opened, Wakka had gone out to check. None of the mages had survived.

Rikku used the Comm spheres to talk to the other shelters. Nooj was fine. He told her that Leblanc was pregnant, as was Dona. Paine had not survived. Nor had anyone in the Calm Lands. As the death toll rose higher and higher, Rikku had only one thought. This has been a titanic disaster.

Everyone was shell shocked, moving slowly, not talking much, and crying almost all the time. Shinra and Rin had both survived, and were making plans to rebuild Spira. That was one of the few things in those dark days that got a smile out of Yuna. They made all sorts of plans, Shinra talking excitedly about his new inventions. However, when the conversation was over, Yuna went back to staring at the wall again. Rikku tried to cheer her up, but nothing helped, and soon she gave up.

After a time Yuna asked Ifalna about Lenne. Rikku had told her what she had seen and Yuna wanted to know what had happened to her daughter.

Ifalna would not answer. She did confide in Rikku, however, that Lenne would not have had along life wherever she was. At least where she was now she would live longer than she would have here and would have a little happiness before she died. Rikku took comfort from her words and did not ask her to expand on them.

Time passed, day-by-day. After a while, Rikku discovered she was pregnant, and the knowledge gave her hope for the future. The information cheered everybody up for a while. Even Yuna smiled a little. But soon they all sunk back into their hibernation state and waited for the time to pass.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

A while later, they left the Shelters and began building a new Spira. Rikku's daughter had been born by then. Rikku had named her Lila. Whenever she looked at her she saw Gippal. His smile, his features. A mixture of their eyes. Not every Al bhed had the swirling green eyes. Cid hadn't, for instance. Lila had the green eyes without the swirls. Watching her daughter grow had been a source of joy to everyone in the shelter. Llaman too was growing. He could walk now, and talk after a fashion.

The day they had left the shelter, Shinra had been waiting for them outside on the airship. He and Yuna had talked of the new town they planned to build. It was the first Rikku had heard of it, but Shinra told her they had been discussing it for ages.

They wanted to build a town suing Shinra's new form of energy. Rikku remembered him discussing it, back on the airship so long ago. He had found a way to use the life energy of Spira, and he and Yuna were once again talking about their dream town, a city of light. Rikku was glad that Yuna did not seem so depressed anymore, but she couldn't help but feel a little left out. She ignored the feeling, knowing it was selfish in these times.

They all began building a halfway town to live in while Yuna and Shinra completed their plans. Everyone helped. Even Llaman toddled around after people carrying tools and things for them. It took a while, but the people needed a project.

When it was finished, Yuna gave a speech. She named the town, as well. Following the will of the people, she named the town 'Calm', in homage to those who had died in the Calm Lands.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

The years past. Many died of various illnesses, Wakka among them. Aura, Vidina, Llaman and Lila spent much of their time hanging around Shinra's lab. Lila in particular, loved Machina. Though she spent a lot of time with Yuna, training as a white mage, all her free time was spent building various machines to make life easier. Rikku had told her of her father, and Lila felt closest to him when she was working on a machina.

It was a day much like any other when Shinra told them of his future plans. Lila was thirteen, Llaman nearly fifteen. Aura was seventeen and Vidina twenty-one.

When they entered the lab, Shinra was holding a sword. Excitedly, not pausing for breath he told them of his breakthrough. He'd found a way to fix spheres onto weapons, so anyone using the weapon could use the abilities contained in the spheres. While Vidina played with the sword, showing off for Aura, Lila asked him how it worked.

Firstly, he reminded her of how the dresspheres worked. A person's personality could, after their death, be formed into a sphere. This happened automatically throughout Spira, due to the pyre flies. Basically, spheres were made of memories and experiences – the things that make up the soul, if you will – compressed by the sheer life force of Spira that was embodied by the pyreflies. The sphere grid, the garment grid – both allowed people to use those memories and experiences to make themselves stronger. The garment grid had allowed people to use the power of the person in question, changing into their clothes and using their abilities.

His new invention, which allowed the spheres to be attached to weapons and armour, was an improvement over the garment grid, he said. With the garment grid you could only use one set of abilities at a time. With his new invention you could use any combination, although there was a limit on the amount. The more you used a certain sphere, the stronger it would become, allowing you to use stronger abilities, much like the dresspheres had.

Then Shinra went off into his own world, and seemed to forget they were there. He wondered aloud if there was a way to bring the aeons back – they also had memories and experiences. If he could only find a sphere of them. The sphere could be attached to a weapon or piece of armour allowing the user to summon the aeon whenever he or she wanted.

It was at this point that Rin appeared, and gently led them out of the lab, telling them that Shinra needed to rest.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

More time passed. Aura and Vidina lost interest in visiting Shinra, and, discouraged by Rin, Llaman and Lila began avoiding him as well.

Eventually, Aura and Vidina got married. On their wedding day, Rikku used the Comm sphere once again to speak to Nooj.

The Comm sphere was old and broken down, and Rikku had trouble making out any of Nooj's words. She saw his and Leblanc's son and Dona and Barthello's daughter, however, and she managed to tell him of Aura and Vidina's wedding. Then the Comm sphere broke down completely. Though Comm spheres were common these days, this was the only one that could connect to Nooj's. Rikku decided to ask Shinra to fix it. Heading outside, she saw Yuna and stopped to tell her what had happened. Yuna didn't seem interested.

Rikku often worried about Yuna these days. The cousins were not as close as they had been. Yuna spent more and more time at Shinra's lab now the children had stopped visiting. Rikku didn't know what they were discussing. Yuna didn't confide in her anymore, or anyone except Shinra and Aura as far as Rikku could see. Yuna had even lost interest in Lila's training, always telling her she was too busy. Yuna was too busy for a lot of things these days, even smiling.

Troubled, Rikku headed to Shinra's lab. Rin stopped her at the door.

"Miss Rikku, what can I do for you?"

"The Comm sphere's broken. I wanted to ask Shinra to fix it,"

"Shinra is a little busy now," said Rin. Inextricably her mind was cast back to that day on the Mi'ihen Highroad. The time all the machina had gone crazy, and Rin had asked Yuna, Rikku and Paine to help him catch the culprit. In the end they had discovered that Rin himself was the culprit. He had set the Gullwings, complete amateurs, to finding someone to blame, hoping they would botch the case. They hadn't however, and Rin's frightening manner as Yuna had told him her theory - that he wanted to hide the fact that the machina were not safe – had chilled Rikku to the bone. It was the same manner he turned on her now as he asked her to leave, suggesting she try again later when Shinra was not so busy.

In all the years that later passed, the Comm sphere was never repaired.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

On Lila's sixteenth birthday, she and her mother walked far along the coast of Besaid Island. Rikku was surprised to find that the island was a different shape now. She mentioned this to Lila, who told her that the sea level had been going down for years. Rikku wondered why. However, she didn't dwell on it much. Perhaps, in retrospect, she should have.

Years before, Ifalna and Rikku had taught Lila and Llaman to listen to the planet as they had both done before the Meteor had hit. Lila often thought that she bonded with her long lost father through machina, and with her mother through the planet, although she never voiced this out loud. The planet was one connection that mother and daughter had always shared.

Rikku looked at her daughter now, already older than she was when she had accompanied Yuna on her pilgrimage, so long ago. Lila's hair was lighter than Rikku's, more like Gippal's. Her eyes were wide, and as green as emeralds. She had Gippal's strong face and commanding manner, and his lean strength, although in a feminine format. She was taller than her mother already.

Rikku hugged Lila, hiding the tears that had sprung to her eyes as she relived Gippal's last moments. The way he had looked at her then smashed the Comm sphere, not wanting her to see the terrible deaths of all in that fated shelter. She had never told Lila exactly how her father died, and Lila had never asked.

Without any conversation, mother and daughter lay down side by side, to listen to the planet. This was a ritual on Lila's birthday, and both appreciated the closeness afforded by it.

They had only been a short time when Lila sat up swiftly. Rikku sat up too.

"What's wrong?"

"I – I – something…weird, that's all,"

"What do you mean?" Rikku asked. Lila had always been quicker at reaching the meditative level of calm required than Rikku was. Rikku often wondered if this was due to their respective personalities – Lila being so much calmer than Rikku ever was. Rikku attributed her daughter's calm nature to her white mage training, a discipline that required slow thoroughness rather than a thief or an alchemists hasty scrabble for items.

Lila shook her head, not finding the words to explain to her mother. "Just…I…Just something,"

Taking the hint, Rikku changed the subject. Her thoughts of her daughter's training still fresh in her mind, she asked, "How's the white magic?"

"Oh…it's okay,"

"Hmm?"

"Aunt Yuna's been a bit…"

"What?"

"Well, mom, to be honest…I just don't like her that much. She's always so sour,"

Rikku was surprised at this. Though she'd been worried about Yuna's quietness and obvious depression she'd still thought of her as the cheerful girl who had defeated sin and Vegnagun, smiling all the way to keep those around her happy. However, Lila had never known that Yuna, and thinking about from her daughter's point of view, Rikku had to admit that she had a point. Yuna was sour.

They headed back to Calm, Rikku troubled by this new image of Yuna.


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

It was a few weeks later when Shinra burst into Yuna's home in Calm, waving a sheaf of papers about his head. Vidina, who had been working at Shinra's lab for a while entered behind him, oddly quiet, staring down at the ground. Aura, Llaman, Lila, Yuna and Rikku all stared at them.

"Yuna! Yuna, I've done it!" He yelled, grabbing Yuna by the waist and swinging her around.

"Done what?" Asked Yuna.

Shinra explained. It seemed he'd been working again on his reactor that would enable him to use the life force of the world as a power source. The problem he'd been having was the sometimes it worked well and sometimes it didn't.

Finally, Shinra had discovered that there were two times of life force. One sort he referred to as 'clean' life, the other 'ghost' life force.

The life force and pyre flies in Spira could be in two forms, 'clean' or 'ghost'. Running the clean force through the reactor caused it to be transformed into usable energy. The ghost force caused various things to go wrong.

Llaman asked what the difference was. Shinra explained that an unsent was made of ghost life. Basically the ghost life force was tainted with people's memories, and those memories caused it to act in different ways. Clean life force was not tainted with memories.

He told them that they had seen examples of this themselves. Before defeating Vegnagun, Yuna and Rikku had seen Shuyin's unsent form, posses themselves, Nooj, Baralai, Gippal and Paine. Casting her mind back, Rikku remembered the weak, sick feeling she was left with afterwards. Shinra told them that had Shuyin's ghost been stronger or possessed them for longer, they would have been reduced to dribbling wrecks.

Shinra reminded them that they'd also seen the effects of clean life force. Before they'd defeated Vegnagun they had held a concert on the thunder plains. Afterwards, the pyre flies from Macalnia woods, attracted by the large sphere screen and the huge numbers of people had come swarming down. This had caused the monsters native to the thunder plains to grow, becoming stronger and larger. It was a little like water, all in all he said. Clean water would make you healthier and stronger, while dirty water would make you ill.

"So," Said Aura, "You mean that you could make people stronger using this clean life force?"

Shinra grinned and gestured to Vidina to step forward. Vidina did so, and when he looked up they saw his eyes for the first time. As Shinra explained how much stronger Vidina was now, Aura ran forward and hugged them both, Yuna following swiftly. Lila stared. Llaman clutched at his forehead. And Rikku watched them all, feeling sick to her stomach, though she didn't know why.

"He's much stronger than the average person now," said Shinra proudly. "Imagine what we could do with a whole army!"

Yuna and Aura chattered excitedly. Lila asked Shinra why they needed in an army, but he must not have heard her question, because he didn't answer. Llaman ran out, muttering something about a headache.

Vidina, Shinra, Aura and Yuna began planning their dream city. Finally Yuna could begin building the town she'd been planning for nigh on twenty years.

Rikku and Lila listened to their plans, of a city full of life reactors. Catching her daughter's eyes, Rikku gestured to her. They followed Llaman outside. No one noticed them leave.

They foundLlaman shaking, leaning against the wall of Yuna's home. Lila put an arm around him.

"What's wrong?" She asked tenderly.

"I – I think it was a vision," he replied. He'd never had one before. Slumping further down to the ground he asked weakly, "Can you get my mom?"

Rikku ran towards Ifalna's home, leaving Lila with Llaman. Ifalna had scarcely left her home these last few years. Rikku knew she was dying, but every time she had tried to bring the subject up, the older woman brushed her aside. Neither of them ever mentioned though the subject to Llaman, though Rikku suspected that both he and Lila knew.

Rikku used the wheelchair she and Lila had spent one long summer making to bring Ifalna to Llaman. Then the two left mother and son alone and walked back to their own home. Rikku asked Lila what Llaman's vision had been about.

Lila frowned. "I'm not sure I understand," she said. "He said…he saw the town Aunt Yuna was talking about. He saw unhappy people living there. He saw more men with eyes like Vidina's…" Lila shook her head.

Rikku didn't press her daughter anymore. This was the first time in a long while she had seen Yuna so animated and happy. But those eyes of Vidina's…She didn't know what to do.


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

Over the next few months a lot of things happened. Ifalna's illness became worse. Llaman called her and Lila into his and Ifalna's home when it happened.

"She's been asking for you," he said in hushed tones, his face pale and drawn. Rikku nodded and went into Ifalna's bedroom. She was surprised to see her friend looking so small and weak.

Ifalna gestures to Rikku to sit down net to the bed, and Rikku complied.

"I'm dying," said Ifalna.

Rikku shook her head, no, but Ifalna just smiled. "I'm not afraid," she said. "I just wanted to show you something,"

Rikku nodded, and Ifalna handed her a sphere. They watched it using Ifalna's sphere screen. There was no sound.

The first scene was of a little girl. Rikku gasped as she recognised her.

"Lenne," she breathed. Ifalna nodded weakly and Rikku instinctively took her hand.

The other scenes showed the little girl being found, adopted, growing up – Rikku smiled to see the little girl who had always loved to be the centre of attention dancing around in front of her new family.

A worrying suspicion began to grow as she watched Lenne grow older. The suspicion became a certainty by the final scene. Rikku saw Lenne performing to a small audience in a bar. She saw Lenne catch the pianist's eye, and knew that they loved each other from that moment. She knew Lenne's future. It was a part of her past.

"Lenne," she said again. "Lady Lenne of Zanarkand. Lenne…and Shuyin,"

She laughed a little. At last she knew Lenne had been happy, and loved. Yes, her life had been cut short, but surely better to die in the arms of one you loved than to live forever and never love at all?

It was then she realised that Ifalna's hand was simply lying still in hers. The old woman had slipped into a coma. Rikku left the room, and sent Llaman in to sit with his mother. She and Lila left quietly.

The next day, Rikku went to Shinra's lab to talk to Yuna about her plans for a new city, as well as to show her the sphere.

When she tried to enter, Aura blocked her way.

"Yes?" She asked frostily.

"I…I want to see Yuna," said Rikku, unnerved by the younger girls attitude.

"My mother is ill,"

Rikku was surprised and a little worried to hear this. Time was when she would have been this first to know. She pressed on. "This is important,"

Vidina stepped out of the lab, standing next to Aura. "Is there a problem?" He asked.

"Rikku wants to see mother,"

"Oh?"

"Vidina, Aura, this is important! I need to speak to Yuna and Shinra,"

"They're busy," said Vidina, his strange eyes glowing.

"I need to speak to them about their city! And…something else,"

"Sorry. I think you should leave,"

"Vidina, if your parents could see you now! And Aura, your father - "

"My father?" Asked Aura, getting angry. "My father, who you killed?"

"Wh-what?" Asked Rikku, shocked.

"My parents who died because of you?" Said Vidina. "Oh yes, Yuna told us all about you. You sent my mother out to die, but were too cowardly to go yourself!"

"I-I"

"Just leave Rikku," said Aura. "Just get out of here,"

Rikku stared at the pair of them, searching for the two children who she'd sheltered with her own body. She couldn't find them anywhere in this pair. She handed them Lenne's sphere, then left, her shoulders slumped. That night she and Lila left Calm. They stole one of Shinra's boats and left in the middle of the night. They asked Llaman to follow, but he wouldn't leave Ifalna. So, they set out by themselves on a new pilgrimage to the Calm Lands.


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

Lila and Rikku journeyed for many days and nights. Rikku was surprised to see how much Spira had changed in the years since her previous journeys. The compass points had switched – North had become south, and South, north – and Lila told her it had happened years before. According to Shinra it was something to do with Meteor. The change in shape of Besaid Island which she had noticed before on Lila's sixteenth birthday had increased to such an extent that Besaid was now nearly a peninsula of a greater landmass rather than an island in it's own right. She wondered why this was. Lila theorised that maybe Shinra had been more accurate than he'd suspected when he linked the life force to water. He'd been experimenting with his reactors for years in the secrecy of his lab she said. Perhaps the life force was linked to the water of Spira in such a way that as that was used up the water level fell.

Rikku thought abut this. Ifalna had often commented on the large amount of water on Spira, far more than on other worlds, she had said.

The days passed.

They were camped out one night when they saw someone coming towards them out of the darkness. It was Llaman, soaked to the skin from his time spent on the sea.

He told them that Ifalna had never woken from her coma. That she had died the next night. Shrugging off their sympathy – Llaman had never been one to like relying on others – he told them that they had been right to leave Calm. The same night they had left their home had been torched, and it was widely assumed throughout Calm that they were dead. Llaman had not told anyone of where they had gone, and instead had simply followed them when Ifalna died.

Rikku overheard Lila and Llaman talking in the night, but didn't listen in on their conversation.

A week or so later, they reached the Calm Lands. Rikku nearly threw up as she saw the scene of destruction and devastation before her. She, Lila and Llaman walked through the bones lying on the ground. The stench of rot rose around them and they gagged, Rikku wondering, oddly, how bad it must have been before. The pyre flies rose before them, flittering around them. When one came near it brought with it the voices of those lying in front of them.

_No…_

_My life…_

_My family…_

_Oh, my children, my children…_

_It's not fair!_

_Anyone..._

_We should have been safe…._

_Why did this have to happen...?_

_Oh Yevon, Yevon, save me!_

Lila's shoulders shook with sobs. Lila never cried, but she was crying now. Rikku left Llaman to comfort her daughter and walked on, the ground marshy beneath her feet. The force of the meteor had forced the calms lands down to sea level. The meteor itself was in pieces in the middle of the field, half of it fallen into the sea, eroded by seventeen years, the shelter crushed beneath it. Many of the bodies around were half buried beneath the dust thrown up by the meteor when it landed.

The meteor seemed smaller than she thought it would be. She vaguely remembered Ifalna and Shinra talking about how it would be burnt away by the atmosphere, how most of the damage would be from the ground shaking, the earthquakes causing mountains to topple.

Though the meteor was smaller, the bodies were much, much, more than she had ever imagined.

She stood there, locked in her own thoughts. Then something caught her eye. One of the bodies was wearing the scraps of an eye patch. She knelt down next to it, gingerly touching the dry skull.

She gasped, feeling a blow to her heart. But it was just her emotions held back for so long. The dam had burst now, however. She didn't cry, no tears escaped her eyes, but she sobbed, gasping, barely able to breathe. She remembered back when meteor had hit, when the blood had rushed from her ears and the ground had seemed to fall away then rise up and hit her again and again. She wondered how it had been here. She remembered Gippal's petrified face, and she loved him for the way he had tried so hard to be brave.

She wondered why she hadn't come back earlier. Her father's body, her brother's, her sister in-laws…Lulu's, Kimahri's, everybody's…they were all here, every one.

Finally she finished sobbing. Well, not finished. She would never be finished mourning them. But she did manage to get herself under control again.

It was then that she noticed something clutched in Gippal's hand. Gingerly, she took it from him. It was a sphere, a black sphere. His memories and experiences? Her hand shook as she stared at the sphere. Lila ran over. She had stopped crying now, but her face was pale and worried – morbidly, she reminded Rikku of her father in his last moments.

"What is that?" Asked Lila. Silently, Rikku handed it to her.

"A sphere? Oh – ah!" Lila dropped the sphere on the ground, and then stood holding her hand as if she'd burnt it.

"What's wrong?" Asked Rikku. Lila stared down at the sphere in horror.

"That thing…it's evil, mom," There was a tone in her voice that Rikku had never heard before.

Llaman joined them. Seeing what they were staring at, he leaned forward to pick up the sphere. Both Rikku and Lila darted forward to stop him, but by that time he'd already dropped it and was half on the floor, clutching his head.

"Llaman!" Cried Lila.

"Death," he intoned, solemnly, seemingly unaware of what he was saying. His galaxial eyes gazed at nothing. "Destruction. Rikku, Rikku, why are you…? No. No. NO! This won't happen! Oh god, oh god… B'mayca, hu, tuh'd mad sa tea, E tuh'd fyhd du tea…RIKKU! Ur kut…ur so kut…b'mayca…" (Please, no, don't let me die, I don't want to die…RIKKU! Oh god…oh my god…please…)

Then Llaman screamed, an awful scream that went on far too long even after it stopped. Rikku and Lila stared at him as he sobbed. Then Lila put her arms around him to help him stand up, and Rikku picked up the sphere again.

"Mom?"

"Don't worry," said Rikku. "I…well…if this is what I think it is, we…"

Llaman stood up, still leaning on Lila. "What…what do you think…think it is?" He gasped.

Lila's green eyes widened. "Could…" she began hesitantly. "Could someone use Shinra's new invention - "

The child had always been quick on the uptake. This spherecontained the last thoughts of all those here. All their memories. Including the last thing they had ever experienced. The disaster that had ended their lives.

"Yes…I think someone could use it to summon meteor,"


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

Rikku kept the sphere with her. Though she hated the thing she didn't want anyone else to know of its existence. Besides…there was something about it that her want to keep it close, grotesque as it was.

Rikku, Lila and Llaman headed to Bevelle…or rather what used to be Bevelle. They had no idea where to go now, and Bevelle seemed as good a place as any other.

When they arrived there, however, Rikku wished they hadn't. The place was reduced to a pittance of its former glory, everything crushed and twisted, the once proud city reduced to rubble.

They explored it however, Rikku playing a sort of game, seeing how much of it she could recognise.

Llaman had another vision. They didn't hurt him so much now he was used to them. This one hurt him in a different way, however. Rikku cried when he told her what he had seen, and although he himself hadn't been too upset, he hated hurting her.

Yuna was dead. She had locked herself in her depression, and let the life drain out of her, spewing out poison in every direction as she wilted. Finally she had died and gone to join her beloved Tidus.

Aura was queen of Calm now. Much as she hated to admit it, Rikku didn't like that girl. She'd been taught by Rin, and in retrospect, especially considering Rin's general creepiness and willingness to value machina over human beings, this had not been such a good idea.

Though she was not blessed or cursed with Llamans visions, Rikku could see the future as clearly as yesterday. Aura, pushed by Rin, would stop at nothing to ensure the comfort of some of the people at the expense of all the people. Shinra, obsessed by his machines had never really made any decisions of his own. He simply invented things. Whether they were used for good or bad was no his problem.

They pressed on through Bevelle. Eventually they came the chamber of the fayth. The glass floor under which Bahamut's human body lay, was cracked, the body frozen in form forever. Lying above it they found a sphere, a bright red sphere.

Llaman picked it up, again automatically. This time he didn't collapse although the sheen of sweat on his brow revealed how much effort this was costing him.

"Summoners…" he whispered. "They come, praying…for me to help…you can't tonight… brought here to Spira… a dream of the fayth…our dream will vanish…I – ah!" Llaman dropped the sphere. Still, he didn't collapse though his whole body was shaking and his messy dark hair fell into his eyes.

Rikku picked up the sphere, placing it in her pocket.

"Mom?" asked Lila, "What was that?"

"Y Vyodr." Answered Rikku. "Bahamut. Ra p'nuikrd Tidus du Spira." (A Fayth. Bahamut. He brought Tidus to Spira).

"Mom! What does that mean?" Lila frowned, looking so much like her father that Rikku was forced to smile, despite everything. She didn't know why she hadn't taught her daughter Al bhed. She and Yuna were pretty much the only ones in Calm to speak it, so she'd found it easier not to use it. And, as the years passed, she hadn't often thought of it. She wondered if the language would be lost forever.

"Mom! What did you say? I don't understand!"

Rikku smiled again. "Oui fanah'd cibbucat du," (you weren't supposed to).

"Mom!"

Rikku shook her head and quoted Yuna. "Draca calnadc yna hud vun oui du ghuf."

As her daughter gazed at her, confused and frustrated, Rikku decided she'd translate that last line.

"These secrets are not for you to know,"


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19**

Rikku, Lila and Llaman wandered on to find a place of their own. Along the way they picked up more followers, wanderers like themselves. Eventually, they found a place to hide the meteor sphere. They built a pyramid, constructing it in such a way that if anyone tried to remove the sphere they would be crushed by the walls closing in on them. Finally, the walls would shrink down smaller than the sphere they contained, and the entire temple would become the meteor sphere. Inside it they left the Bahamut sphere too, judging it as being too dangerous to carry around.

The temple was many years in the making. During that time, Lila and Llaman's daughter was born. Rikku suggested her name - Meva.

When Meva was three years old, they left the temple. Eventually they found a place of their own, in the middle of the mountains, behind a forest, near a village made up of the diggers from Bikanel desert.

Unfortunately, however, a monster attacked the village, soon after they took up residence there. Rikku was asleep at the time, as was Llaman and Meva, and the other members of the village. Lila however, was down by the river, and was the first to see it. Llaman awoke to her screams and rushed out, in time to see her fighting. She cast a spell, a spell she'd had learned from Yuna, and the monster roared in pain, backing off a little. Lila fell to her knees, gasping for breath. Llaman ran forward and finally defeated the monster with a sword he had made sometime in the years before.

Lila, however, was too far gone, and died in Llaman's arms. Tears pricking his eyelids he carried her body out into the water and let go, letting her float down to the bottom, her golden hair forming a halo around her. Rikku and Meva had awoken by this time and were standing by, watching, Meva still too young to understand.

Meva was a beautiful child. She had her mother's green eyes and her father's dark and brooding good looks. She never had her father's visions, although she sometimes showed an oddly uncanny ability to predict what was going to happen. Rikku taught her to listen to the soul of the world too, and she was swifter even than Lila had been.

Meva grew older. She liked spending time by the riverbank, feeling close to her mother, as Lila had felt close to Gippal when building a machina. She was around nine years old when she found it. A pure white sphere.

She took it to Llaman, who examined it for a moment, then handed it back to her.

"Keep it safe," he said. "It's a sphere, your mother's sphere,"

Llaman and Rikku had told her about spheres.

"What does it do?" She asked.

"Nothing," he replied. "It does nothing,"

Meva never mentioned it to her father again.

The world grew older. The continents changed, the sea level changed. The calm lands ended up completely underwater, and were gradually forgotten about by the next generations. Besaid Island stopped being an island as the years went by and the seas changed. It ended up as a part of a much larger continent, and the name 'Besaid' was forgotten.

Yuna and Shinra's dream city was eventually built on that larger continent, though not in either of their lifetimes, or their children's. Shinra set up a corporation to carry on his work and his name. There were more soldiers like Vidina, an entire army. The workers of Shinra carried out many more experiments too, using Ronso DNA to create a new species. Unfortunately however, a few creatures of this species were lost, having broken out of the lab, and were last seen heading west. As the life force was used up the unsent disappeared, the world not able to support their existence anymore.

The Shinra Corporation stopped using the word 'life force' after a time. It tended to make people uncomfortable. They came up with a new word. Over the generations, many words changed. Spheres were renamed. Calm was corrupted to Kalm. The name Spira was lost to history.

Nooj's land was renamed too. It became a secret village of ninja's, descended from him, Leblanc, Dona and Barthello, as well as the others in the eastern shelter. And not one of their descendantsever learnt tokeep their hands off other peoples spheres.

The Al bhed language was forgotten, the green eyes lost. All except for one race. Meva's children never lost their green eyes. They never regained their visions, though they often knew things without knowing why. This line was renamed too, given a misnomer to confuse Aura's descendants. They called themselves the ancients, although a few still remembered the word Cetra, and used the two incongruously. And they kept Lila's sphere, passing it one from daughter to daughter. Rikku's line tended towards daughters, though none ever knew why. Over the years, Lila's sphere, through such proximity to her line grew ever more powerful as each dying daughter leant her power to it. The spell it contained, the last spell Lila cast, could not be unlocked by any invention of Shinra's, however. With the loss of life force in the world, it could only be unlocked by a great effort, a great sacrifice of one of Lila's race.

Eventually, that sacrifice came to pass, and Lila's sphere was pitted against Gippal's, in one of the greatest stories ever told, although none remembered the connection. And when the sacrifice was finally made, none of those involved ever knew of the footsteps of their ancestors, though they each followed them in their own way.

And the last member of Lila's line followed the first to a watery grave.


End file.
